The Thrift Debacle - Ned Eichler

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Résumé :
The Thrift Debacle by Ned Eichler analyzes what he terms the greatest regulatory failure in American history: the collapse of the savings and loan industry and the enormous taxpayer burden created by the Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corporation (FSLIC). Originally designed in the 1930s to stabilize the housing market during the Great Depression, FSLIC provided federal deposit insurance to thrifts, institutions whose main role was financing residential mortgages. For decades the system seemed stable, but by the late twentieth century changing economic conditions and the political appeal of deregulation destabilized the entire sector. Policymakers, driven by ideology rather than sober assessment, removed protective regulations without addressing the structural weaknesses of thrifts, including their limited purpose, shrinking role, and negligible capital base. Eichler argues that the debacle was not the result of deliberate corruption but rather of blind adherence to an idea that ignored fundamental realities.

Eichler frames the crisis as a textbook case of policy divorced from prudence. He identifies seven ignored truths: there were already too many banks...

Biographie:
they were wholly creatures of the federal government...

Sommaire:
thrifts had value only in providing home loans, a declining necessity...